Zinesters are not the Beats generation, we are the Beat-UP generation

Zinesters are the first generation that has had it's literature completely blocked from fair reviews in the mainstream media. There were the Beats writers in the 50's. Zinesters are the Beat-up writers. No other generation has had it's best contemporary writers block so completely and so unfairly.

The consolidation of the media has ruined mainstream publishing and the media that reviews it.
For some reason the media has given up all journalistic responsibility in refusing to cover zines and almost all better indie writing.

No coverage of the revolution in any art. It is just not literature.
No coverage of the new writers in new forms.
No coverage of the new writer advocacy groups and leaders such as King Wenclas, or ULA or Musea.
No coverage on why no coverage. The mainstream media can not be questioned on their almost total generational block of fair reviews for zines.

Replies to This Discussion

See the zine hall of fame for the very best. Great zine writers are great writers - and they deserve fair coverage as much as any other writer.
And one thing that zinesters do that no other type of writers do, is design and make the book. Some of us do take writing seriously.
Zine hall of fame: (you can see it at musea.us or at zinewiki)http://zinewiki.com/Musea_Zine_Hall_of_Fame

kami said:

christ but this is funny stuff!! twelve pages and counting about zines being blocked, democracy, capitalists etc etc... they are zines - you photocopy them, you send a few out, you give them to friends, you enjoy yrself... why should mainstream media cover zines anyway? does every zine out there have to cover other zines? does anyone give a shit anyway? i guess someone does, 12 pages and all that... but damn its funny to read... get a life, get laid, get drunk, get yrself a contract with a publisher if yre that worried about having yr voice heard .... and as for "its best contemporary writers" - are they writing zines? really? shit, name them for me so i can get their zines cos i aint seeing much of that out there yet! keep it coming tom, this is funnier than local community tv

In my own zine I sometimes induct people/ books/ movies/ bands/ whatever I happen to enjoy into the Fish with Legs Hall of Fame. I've seen nothing to indicate that the Zine Hall of Fame is any more reputable than my own personal HoF.

Seriously, has any zine other than Musea ever bragged about being in the Hall of Fame?

a zine hall of fame would be a very personal thing wouldnt it? i mean, i'm in australia so i wont even have seen most of the zines that have been "inducted" and so i only recognised a few of the names - and there was no mention of forced exposure, crimson celluloid, violent leisure, mondo gore or bananafish!!! so i'm already dubious :) seriously, a hall of fame? sort of legitimizes the underground and who seriously wants that?

Through all the years I've done the Zine Hall of Fame I've asked people to suggest zines time and time again. Sadly few have taken the time to suggest other zines for inductees. So its always been open to all zinesters and zine readers. As to personal choices- almost all of these entries are highly regarded by the zinesters that have read them. Recognizing quality and personal choices are two different things. These are high quality works. What did limit me was not knowing all the zines there are - that's why it is and has always been open to all to suggest entries.

For you and all others keep the suggestions coming.

kami said:

a zine hall of fame would be a very personal thing wouldnt it? i mean, i'm in australia so i wont even have seen most of the zines that have been "inducted" and so i only recognised a few of the names - and there was no mention of forced exposure, crimson celluloid, violent leisure, mondo gore or bananafish!!! so i'm already dubious :) seriously, a hall of fame? sort of legitimizes the underground and who seriously wants that?

I totally understand that mainstream media is not doing it's job. But that same media is bought and owned by our government, to give people what they are supposed to read and hear. I feel as though attacking zinesters for not making more of an effort to be a part of that is attacking the wrong people. Why not attack mainstream media? Why not boycott the NYT, trash your tv, and delete your myspace. Why would you want to be a part of that, when you can instead provide an alternative to that, not tarnished by big business and censorship and lies?

And of course DIY is becoming a marketing gimmick, new markets are being constantly created and stolen from underground movements to keep capitalism flowing. The problem is not us. We are continuing to express ourselves by creating and interacting despite the fact that the "leaders" of our own countries are against us.

i think someone may have already pointed this out, but Tom Hendricks was humble enough to list his own zine on his hall of fame list. that rules.

His zine hall of fame is ridiculous, it's just his personal list of zinesters and zines he likes. I had severe reservations letting him plug it so much in ZineWiki, it seemed more about hyping his own shit than giving kudos to other zinesters. But ultimately there are bigger battles to fight than worrying about someone overstating their importance or contributions to the world of zines.

I totally understand that mainstream media is not doing it's job. But that same media is bought and owned by our government, to give people what they are supposed to read and hear. I feel as though attacking zinesters for not making more of an effort to be a part of that is attacking the wrong people. Why not attack mainstream media? Why not boycott the NYT, trash your tv, and delete your myspace. Why would you want to be a part of that, when you can instead provide an alternative to that, not tarnished by big business and censorship and lies?

I apologize for skimming to the end of this thread and picking one quote that I really, really agree with to start off my initial post here. But I began doing zines when they were called fanzines, about 1968, and my generation of fanzine fans were still riffing off the dying glow of the Beats. You know, the Beats didn't get published by the big boys right away, either. We, like those before us, were using wax stencils and mimeographs. Few if any of us expected that what we were doing would ever be noticed in the mainstream. The ones that did were pretty boring and petty and dressed like yuppies and the rest of us pretty much ignored them.

We wrote and drew and published because we loved doing it and got a big thrill when someone would write a letter in return or send their fanzine in trade. My particular bunch of friends, we were into rock music, movies, science fiction, and the antiwar revolution of the '60s & '70s. Very much. Some of us later became "mainstream" writers and editors and artists. Some didn't. But we all learned and grew and figured out how to write stuff that others would read. (If anything, the last thing we wanted was for Time magazine to discover us. Ick.)

Kill your television, take a break from Facebook, and keep doing what you love best.

only moronic Liberals and Lefties...
who do not have to bother @ all...
TIME down 6% staff...so what
moron U's produce Lefty pondscum
thru all seasons...Omama-bots galore...

but no fly no balls in faux 'beat-up'...i see
no protests against Obama-bots...'cept
for visionaries like...MOI...of
course...but that's cuz I KNOW...:)
(& will always be tellin')

Mulnix said:

I've been reading this thread...God help me.

Hendricks IS attacking the mainstream media, but the problem is that no one in the mainstream media cares.He's a fly on the sweaty left testicle of the great media behemoth. Actually, he's not a fly...he's a mite...or a tiny particle of bacteria...or possibly a sub-atomic molecule of shit...or anti-matter...or...?

Actually, he might be a nice guy. All I hear, though, is vague rhetoric and political lectures to hardcore hobbyists. I don't hear anything proactive on Hendricks' part at ALL, just blather.

Anyway...Captain Mimeo, you sound pretty cool. If you ever have time to wade through this thread, you'll wish you'd taken up trout fishing instead of self-publishing.